Ability Points distributionYour Luk should be your level+3 in order to use ordinary equips. You can either add 4 INT and 1 LUK per level, or you could add 5 INT per level and a few points into LUK a level before/when you reach the level of your next equips. Make sure to keep track on your LUK and remember that you cannot use a new equip without subtracting the LUK bonus of your last equip [can't equip an item without the right amount of LUK].INT determines your MP amount. That's why most higher leveled Mages prefer adding 5 INT per level, then add LUK when needed. More INT spread to a few levels = more MP.

Lukless Mages, also known as pure INT Mages, keeps his STR, DEX and LUK in the lowest amount possible [4]. While regular-built mages keep their LUK as their level +3, a lukless mage would invest all his AP into INT.

Pros & Cons of making a Luckless MagePros:• The main advantage for a lukless mage is that the INT boost causes the damage to be higher compared to a normal mage at 2nd job [click here (photobucket) to see a lukless I/L mage].• As a result to the higher damage, a lukless mage would usually level up faster than a normal mage. In addition to that, he would also be able to train on higher leveld monsters, at a lower level.• A lukless mage is easier to fund in the beginning, since you don’t have to buy new equips every few levels.• Lukless mages have more MP [more INT=more MP received when leveling up]. And after level 43, they would also have more HP [an average Lama Staff has +100 HP].• With the addition of level 64 Mage weapons to the game, Lukless mages can match up/have a higher m.atk advantage compared to normal luk mages.

Cons:• A lack of equipment to fit your level. Mage equips require a level +3 LUK build in order for you to be able to wear them, and a lukless mage is not able to do so.• Possibly less m.acc than normal built mages.• Your equips should be well scrolled to make up for the normal built mage's equip bonuses. Sadly, the prices of the scrolls needed for a lukless mage’s equips are very high. At lower levels, lukless mages would probably have more money than a normal mage. But, as the levels get higher, it would get harder for the lukless to afford all the scrolls. A lukless should make more efforts to make money, at higher levels.• Ice, Fire, Poison and Holy attacks in 2nd job don't benefit as much as Heal and Lightning attacks benefit from the extra damage.• At higher levels, a lukless mage would have a harder time competing with normal mages, as their equips keep getting better. With the right scrolled equips, at high levels, a normal mage could probably out-damage a lukless mage at same level. A lukless mage would have to get more money to keep up with the normal mage’s bonuses.• A lukless mage has less weapon and magic defense [lack of equipment to fit your level and LUK] = higher HP pot usage.• When dying, a lukless mage would lose 10% EXP while a normal built mage would lose only 5% EXP.• The appearance of a lukless mage’s equips would stay the same at level 100 as they were at level 43, unless it’s covered up with Cash Shop items [or got a Black Umbrella].

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Luckless Mage equipmentLevel 1-30· Hat: Any Bandana· Overall: Beginner Clothes, Camo Pants at 26 if you want.· Shoes: Sandals or Whitebottoms· Cape: Old Raggedy Cape *Necessity due to Low Avoidability· Gloves: Any Color WG that is not scrolled for attack.· Shield: any shield scrolled for M.ATK.

Level 30-43:· Hat: Bone Helmet or any Bandana· Overall: Sauna Robe· Shoes: Blue Snowshoes· Cape: INT Icarus 2 [this can last you to about Level 80 if it is scrolled well enough]· Gloves: Try to get a Yellow WG· Earrings: INT earrings, or even clean earrings scrolled with 100%'s.· Shield: any shield scrolled for M.ATK.

Luckless Mage weaponsLevel 8-34: Wooden Wand Scrolled with 100%'s [Save up for the 100%'s and use them as soon as you can afford each one]Level 35-39: Maple StaffLevel 40-42: Yellow UmbrellaLevel 43-69: Maple Lama StaffLevel 70+: Black Umbrella

NOTE: Some Mages use their Lama Staves forever because of the 100 HP Bonus. Also, the 3rd job Mage skill Booster will not work with 1 Handed Swords [aka Umbrellas]

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Luckless Mage training zonesLuckless Mages should train at the exact same zones as normal-luk mages, only 3 levels earlier. Check each class training zones for further information.

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Choosing the right class

Cleric

Pros & Cons of making a ClericPros:• Clerics are probably the most necessary class in the game. They are very welcome in any party because of their Heal, and great party skills [such as Holy Symbol and Dispel at 3rd job].• You barely use ANY HP pots! The fact that you can heal yourself instead of using HP pots like any other class makes Clerics to be considered as the richest class in the game, often great as funders. In addition, in most cases Undead and Dark monsters drop fairly expensive and useful items. Please do note- it is recommended that you take along HP pots with you just for backup- in case you lag, get stunned/sealed, or hit the wrong key instead of Heal.• When speaking of leveling up speed, Clerics are considered to be one of the fastest out of all classes, because they can mob even if heal does very weak damage [compared to other classes]. At 3rd job, Clerics level up fast because of parties and HS.• At 3rd job, Clerics get some fun new skills, such as Doom [Turns multiple monsters into snails!], Holy Symbol [Everyone in the party can gain more EXP while hunting monsters], Mystic Door [Creates a portal that heads to the nearest town] etc. They also get a new offensive skill, Shining Ray.• At 4th job, as Bishops, they get an insane power boost- they're almost as strong as Arch Mages.

Cons:• Clerics are not supposed to make high damage, compared to other classes. Their main goal is to heal and support the party. That’s a good thing, since every high-leveled party needs a Cleric/Priest, but it might seem boring to some people- healing the party and not making any serious damage. That's of course until 4th job.• As a result to the low damage, when Clerics train solo, they often get KSed by other classes.• Clerics are very common in the game, so finding parties might be difficult if you're looking in the wrong place.• Out of all the 3rd job mage attacking skills, Shining Ray has the worst range. For Poison Mist, Explosion and Ice Strike, all three of them improve in range, damage and mastery as points are put into them. For Shining Ray, it's only the damage and mastery.

----------- at this point, max Dispel [for bossing], SR [for damage] and Dragon in the order of your personal preference. After these skills are maxed, go for Doom/Door as described in the previous build.

Holy Arrow"Should I max HA?"- This question is asked at least 5 times a day, and usually ends as a flame war. Just read this and decide for yourself.

Pros:• HA's damage is higher than Magic Claw's damage [unless it's a monster that's strong/immune to Holy]. When fighting Undead or Dark monsters, the HA's damage is x1.5. In addition to that, those monsters often have valuable drops.• Useful when solo-training on dark monsters at lower levels.• Clerics have very few training areas, which are usually invaded by hackers or highly populated. HA enables the Cleric to train in a variety of other maps.• Heal damage is unstable, which makes Clerics more vulnerable to getting KSed by other classes. HA’s damage is more stable and enables the Cleric to “fight back”.• When compared to Heal, Holy Arrow has a longer attack range, while Heal has a wider attack range.• It has a better Knock-Back rate than Magic Claw.• HA is faster than the 3rd job skill, Shining Ray.

Cons:• Maxing HA would force you to not max one [or two] of your other skills. That might cause some problems in your future as a Cleric/Priest [in the aspects of MP recovery, meso cost, training efficiency etc.].• HA casting speed is significantly slower than Heal casting speed: while casting HA once, Heal could be cast twice.• Unless used on an undead/dark monster, HA’s Basic Attack and Mastery are equal to the 1st job skill, Magic Claw.• HA shoots an arrow at a single target, while Heal hits multiple targets. In most cases, training is faster when using Heal.• Party training is usually faster than solo training. Clerics are invited to parties mostly for their ability to heal and other party skills, and that’s when HA does not come to use at all.• HA is not as efficient as Heal when power-training.

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I/L Wizard-Mage

Pros & Cons of making an I/L WizardPros:• You have the biggest advantage of all- you are able to freeze monsters! None of the other classes can do that at 2nd job. By freezing monsters, you avoid their attacks and save a lot of money, not having to use all those HP pots when comparing to other classes.• Thunderbolt is a very useful and strong attack when mobbing monsters. Thus, fast leveling.• At 3rd job, I/L Mages get amazing skills! For example, Ice Strike [Fires ice blocks at multiple enemies. If struck, all monsters other than ice-based ones will freeze], Seal [Seals up the enemies around you for a certain amount of time. Once sealed up, the monsters can't use attacking skills] and the well known Thunder Spear [Gathers up the power of lightening and turns it into a spear]. Thunder Spear is also the strongest attack out of all 3rd job mage attacks.• At 4th job they also get a great power boost, with Chain Lightning in particular.

Cons:• Until Thunderbolt is maxed, leveling up won’t be as fast as it will be for Clerics or F/P mages. Furthermore, when comparing Ice Beam to Thunderbolt, Thunderbolt's MP cost is higher, and since it doesn't freeze the monsters, more HP pots would also be necessary. The MP pot cost wouldn't be as high as it was after you max your MP Eater.• Even though Thunder Spear is the strongest attack of all 3rd job mage attacks, its casting speed is surprisingly very slow. It’s not as effective for training as it is for fighting boss monsters. This can be improved by using Booster.• At 2nd job, I/L mage’s damage is significantly lower than a F/P mage’s damage.• Boss monsters cannot be frozen, so the freezing advantage doesn’t come to use when fighting bosses.

Thunder Spear- The most common and recommended 3rd job I/L Mage skill build is Ice Strike build. But is it the only way to go?

Pros:• A very high damage with one strike. You would probably break 9k damage before reaching level 90 [click here (imageshack)].• Having a powerful single striking skill allows you to fight boss monsters more easily. It enables you to solo a pair of Crimson Balrogs before reaching level 80.• Training with TS is very efficient when fighting Vikings. It also enables you to train there at an earlier level than Ice Strike build mages.• Vikings drop very high value items, such as Ilbi, Purple Osfa set etc.• You still have 2nd job lightning, which does the same amount of damage maxed to Vikings as Ice Strike. Thunderbolt has 60 base attack maxed times 1.5 because of elemental advantage, making it 90, the same as Ice strike without elemental advantage.• You can train anywhere you want, basically. Although Vikings will prove to be the fastest source of exp from early 7x, you are able to train on ice-based monsters with Thunderspear, whereas it’s not possible with Ice Strike build.

Cons:• At lower levels, training at Vikings can be very expensive. The first few levels will cost you a few mil (5m+) because of getting hit while becoming acquainted with the map and learning how Vikings shoot, etc.• You miss out on a lot of the money you'd get from training at death teddy for those levels. Ice strike build is definitely cheaper.• Ice strike is also useful for Vikings, especially the bottom of the map, by freezing them and avoiding their attacks. This disadvantage can be improved by having some SP in Ice Strike- using a method of freezing a mob, then casting Lightning on it. However, this method doesn't work very well until you have near perfect accuracy (level 85).

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F/P Wizard-Mage

Pros & Cons of making a F/P MagePros:• Fire Arrow is the strongest attack out of all mage attacks at 2nd job.• Some F/P Wizards choose to the pure poison or hybrid builds, by making Poison Brace their main attack. This promises incredibly fast leveling throughout 55-7x.• At level 50~51, F/P Wizards train on Jr. Yetis which drop 60% Glove Att. Scrolls. And around level 55 or so, they start training on Grupins. The Grupins have a high drop rate mostly for Tobis and Icy. Of course they drop other useful items, such as Elixirs and Grupin Tails [an exchange quest item]. If you’re lucky enough, you could gain about 2~5 mil per level.• At 3rd job, F/P Mages finally get their mobbing skills, and they’re still extremely strong. They get skills such as Poison Mist and can use it to lower any monster's hp no matter what the monster's level is. When maxed, the monster's hp is left at 1 hp and all you need to do is sweep the misted monsters. Again, this promises fast exp gain during 3rd and 4th jobs.• As mentioned for other classes, at 4th job F/P Arch Mages get a great power boost and are able to paralyze [Paralyze] and freeze multiple monsters [Elquines].

Cons:• F/P mages don't have ANY mobbing skills at 2nd job. That makes most of the F/P mages get very bored and eventually give up on their mages early on.• Until level 40~45 or so, F/P mages don’t usually gain very much money and have to spend a lot of their money on pots. Also, hybrid/pure poison training requires the use of more pots until you gain enough experience to know how to dodge the monster's magic attacks.• Explosion's casting speed is very slow. This can be improved by using EW Staff/Pyogo [proven to make Explosion's casting speed faster] and Booster.

Frequently Asked Questions• Q: Which mage class is the best?A: There is no "best" class. Every class has its own pros and cons, you can judge which class is the best for you by reading the listed above.

• Q: Ok, I read everything. But can I hear your personal opinion?A: Yes. Just ask me about it here

• Q: Which mage should I choose?A: I don’t know.It’s your decision and you’re the ONLY person to decide whether to choose a Cleric, an I/L mage or a F/P mage. Please don’t ask these questions, different people have very different opinions. It’s up to you to decide wwhich class you want. After all, you would be the one playing that mage later on, not us.

• Q: Which class is best for lukless mages?A: All of them. Each has their reasons for being Luckless. For other pros and cons of each class, visit Clerics pros and cons, I/L pros and cons and F/P pros and cons> Cleric:Rarely Die, eliminating 10% Experience Loss, will deal MASSIVE damage to undead.Booster is never aquired, so Black Umbrella may be used without having the useless skill.> F/P Wizard:Great Magic Attack in 2nd Job, Strongest in 2nd job.Mob attacks in 3rd job will benefit from extra power. Booster will not work, however, with Black Umbrella.> I/L Wizard: Lightning Damage will be amazing at a low level.Thunder Spear, the strongest 3rd job mage attack, will benefit from extra power. However, Booster will not work with a Black Umbrella.

• Q: ____ Mages are better than ____ Mages.A: Please do not post these type of statements because: a) It's false. There is no "better" class. b) It will ALWAYS cause a flame war.Flenaris said it best, so please read this before making false assumptions and spamming your theories everywhere.

• Q: What’s the difference between Staves and Wands?A: The only difference between these two is the graphic length. A Staff is longer than a Wand, but they both have the same effect. Neither of them is slower than the other. The “Speed” of the Staff/Wand is NOT related in any way to the Casting Speed.

The only exception is the F/P Mage 3rd job skill Explosion, which was proven to have a shorter casting speed when an EW Staff or a Wand of any kind is equipped. There's only a slight difference between casting Explosion with a Staff and a Wand. There is a larger difference between casting Explosion with EW and a normal Staff though.

• Q: Can I use Dispel when I'm stunned?A: No, you cannot cast Dispel when you're stunned. However, you can cast it to cancel out any other condition you're effected by [being sealed or poisoned for example].